Bag container



23 TE? a Mal ch 17, 1953 E I 2,631,629

BAG CONTAINER Filed April 21, 1950 llll . INVENTOR. Mi 9232 E 6 BY WMW Patented Mar. 17, 1953 TENT OFFICE BAG CONTAINER Robert L. Lee, Mount Vernon, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to S. and F. Company, Hartford, Conn, a partnership Application April 21, 1950, Serial No. 157,253

' 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates, generally, to new and useful improvements and innovations in bagtype containers having an elastic opening in the top thereof, and it has particular relation to such "containers adapted to be suspended from adjacent the top opening with provision being made for distributing the weight of the container and its contents through an elastic 100p member and thence through a multiplicity of ruffles or gatherings of the bag material spreading out from the loop member to the ungathered or unruffled portion of the container.

The object of this invention is a bag-type container having a restricted elastic opening in the top thereof formed by an elastic loop memher to which the relatively light, thin sheet material forming the bag is gathered in ruiiles adjacent the periphery, and a grommet is located on opposite sides of the bag material adjacent the loop member so that when the bag, with contents therein, is supported from the grommet, the weight is distributed through the loop member and in turn through the rufiles so that localization of stress on the bag material is avoided.

An important object of the invention is a bagtype container formed of relatively thin plastic film or sheet material having an elastic opening provided therein by an elastic loop member to which the bag material is gathered and attached so that when the bag member is suspended by a grommet located adjacent the loop member and fitting on opposite sides of the sheet material, the weight of the bag and its contents will be distributed throughout the bag material rather than localized around the grommet.

Certain other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of the invention, reference may now be had to the detailed description thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a bag-type container in empty condition and forming one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the manner in which the bag in Fig. 1 is suspended when filled;

S is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view on enlarged scale showing the relationship of the suspending grommet to the elastic loop member.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 5 desienate e a y. a gyp o ta ner comprising a bag member 5 having an elastic opening 7 formed in the top thereof ofrestricted circumference relative to the circumference of the opening in the top end of the bag member 5 before it is attached to the elastic loop member 8.

The bag member 6 may be formed of any suitable bag material, but plastic sheet films are particularly suitable when an impervious bagtype container is desired. A number of plastic sheet materials are commercially available which are satisfactory including such materials as Pliofilm, cellophane, saran, vinylidene chloride polymer, vinyl chloride acetate copolymer, paper, etc.

In the drawings, the bag 6 is shown being formed of a tube of plastic film material which is provided with bellows side folds indicated by the dotted lines iillt, the bottom end being heat-sealed along a band area indicated at II. It will, of course, be appreciated that other types of bag construction may be used.

The restricted elastic opening l includes a loop member 8 which may suitably be in the form of an elastic ribbon such as a cotton covered elastic of the type which is available commercially in a range of sizes, widths, weights, strengths, etc. The loop 8 is formed by overlapping and stitching together the ends of a piece of the elastic ribbon sheet and the material forming bag 6 is secured to the loop 3 in known manner by stitching H2 in a gathered or rufiled condition.

It will be noted that the ruffles are densest and most highly concentrated immediately adjacent the loop member 8 and they spread or fan out downwardly therefrom until they join the unrufiled or ungathered portion of the bag 6.

In order that the container 5 may be suspended as by a loop of tape or cord !3, with an even distribution of the load so that localized stress is avoided, a grommet or eyelet Id of known type is applied to the bag 6 immediately adjacent the loop member 8 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The grommet or eyelet M is of the conventional twopiece type with one piece it fitting on the inside of the bag material and the other piece it fitting on the other side, with the film material being firmly crimped or pressed therebetween as shown in Fig. 3. The grommet I4 may he applied so that the parts l5 and It will cover a plurality of the rufiles thereby causing several thicknesses of the bag film material to be gripped therebetween.

When the container 5 is loaded or filled and then suspended by a loop or cord l3 from a nail or hook, the weight of the contents will be transmitted from the lower portion of the bag 5 upwardly through the several ruflies to the elastic loop member 8 which is elongated and drawn down on an angle, as shown in Fig. 2. The stress distributed around the elastic loop 8 is in turn supported by the grommet l4 in cooperation with the loop 8.

The arrangement or location of the grommet M with respect to the loop 8 makes possible the uniform distribution of stress rather than a localization or concentration of stress at one or two points in the film material forming the bag 6.

Having described a preferred embodiment of the invention what is claimed as new is:

A bag type container with an elastic opening in the top thereof particularly adapted to be suspended from adjacent the top opening and comprising, a bag member having a top opening therein, an elastic loop member secured to the material forming said bag member around the top opening therein, said loop member having a contracted length substantially less than the full peripheral length of said top bag opening thereby producing rufiles in said bag member which spread out from said loop member down to the unrufiled portion of said bag member, and a grommet juxtaposed beneath said loop member and secured to a plurality of said ruffles so that several thicknesses of the material are caught by the opposite sides thereof, whereby When said container is suspended by said grommet the load is distributed to said elastic loop member and to said ruffles.

ROBERT L. LEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 621,662 Harrefi Mar. 21, 1899 905,713 Hinman Dec. 15, 1908 1,426,528 White Aug. 22, 1922 1,476,991 McMath Dec. 11, 1923 1,965,040 Kelly July 3, 1934 2,037,175 Northcross Apr. 14, 1936 2,437,149 Baxter Mar. 2, 1948 

